The senator who voted the lowest percentage of times with the Democratic leadership is Sen. Bob Hedlund, R-Weymouth. He supported the leadership 72.1 percent of the time.

The next three who voted the least with the leadership are not surprisingly the Senate's other three Republicans: Sens. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, 73.3 percent; Michael Knapik, R-Westfield, 74.0 percent; and Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, 74.8 percent.

The two Democrats who voted with the leadership the lowest percentage of times are Sens. James Timilty, D-Walpole, 80.9 percent and Barry Finegold, D-Andover, 84.3 percent.

The other 33 Democrats all voted with the leadership more than 90 percent of the time.

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Here is how local senators fared in their support of the Democratic leadership on 135 key roll calls.

The percentage next to the senator's name represents the percentage of times the senator supported the Democratic leadership.

The number in parentheses represents the number of times the senator opposed the Democratic leadership.

Some senators voted on all 135 roll call votes. Others missed one or more of the 135 votes. The percentage for each senator is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted and does not count the roll calls for which he or she was absent.

Sen. Stephen Brewer 100 percent (0)

Sen. James Eldridge 91.7 percent (11)

Sen. Jennifer Flanagan 100 percent (0)

ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL

READ PROFICIENTLY BY THIRD GRADE (H 4243): The House and Senate approved and sent to Gov. Deval Patrick a bill creating an Early Literacy Expert Panel to advise the state's education department on strategies to have all students in the state reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

Supporters said 39 percent of the state's third-grade students read below their grade level. They argued that studies show 74 percent of students who have a difficult time with reading in third grade often continue to struggle throughout high school and are four times as likely to drop out before graduation.

MALE BREAST CANCER (H 4019): With October just around the corner, Gov. Patrick signed into law a measure designating the third week in October of each year as Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week to raise awareness of the occurrence of breast cancer in men and to encourage regular screenings.

Various committees sealed the fate of several bills by recommending they go to a study committee. With few exceptions, all measures shipped off to a study committee are never actually studied and are essentially defeated. Here are some of the bills given the thumbs down and headed for a study committee:

BAN SHADOWS (H 1169): Prohibits the construction of any new building that would cast a new shadow on Boston'sCharles River Esplanade, Christopher Columbus Park, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Copley Square Park, Magazine Beach Park or the Back Bay Fens.Supporters say some new construction would cast shadows on many Boston parks and interfere with enjoyment by people of scarce open space while benefiting a few wealthy property owners and developers. Opponents say the proposal is another example of government interference on issues that are often silly.

INSURANCE RECORDS FROM HOLOCAUST (S 416): Requires all insurance companies to provide the state with their records on all policies that were issued and in effect in Europe between 1920 and 1945. Supporters say many victims of the Nazi regime and their families were never paid insurance claims for various policies they owned because the owners were killed and the families did not have proof of the policy. They note in many cases only the insurance companies still have records of these policies and they should be forced to release the records and either prove payment was already made or be required to pay now.

ELECT THE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER (H 1208): Provides that the state's insurance commissioner be elected rather than appointed by the governor. One of the commissioner's duties is to set auto insurance rates following a series of public hearings. Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that gives the commissioner this power; while other states set their rates by law or by a competitive free market.

CREATE STATE-RUN BANK OF MASSACHUSETTS (H 1192): Creates a state-run Bank of Massachusetts. Currently, North Dakota is the only state in the nation with a state-owned bank. Supporters say the North Dakota bank has worked well. They argue a Massachusetts state bank would be a partner, not a rival, of local banks. Opponents say this creates another unnecessary government bureaucracy that will unfairly compete with local private banks. They argue this will hurt these banks by being the only bank in which the state deposits its tax and other revenue.

BANKS MUST CASH STATE AND MUNICIPAL CHECKS (H3601): Requires all banks and credit unions to cash checks issued by the state, cities and towns even if the customer does not have an account at that institution.

BANKS MUST PAY LATE FEES (H 3126): Requires a bank to pay the late fees if it neglects to conduct an electronic transfer for a customer who is later charged a late fee by the intended recipient of the transfer.

HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK'S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature's job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.

During the week of September 17-21, the House met for a total of 28 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 38 minutes.

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